by
Eric Maurice
Part
1
What did
Jean-Claude Juncker expect when he came to the European Commission
press room last Wednesday (21 February)?
The
surprise press conference, announced just 40 minutes beforehand, was
to make public the appointment of the new secretary general, the EU
executive's highest civil servant.
By the
mere fact that it was conveyed in person by the institution's
political boss, the news - which would have usually been is of
interest to only a handful of people beyond Brussels' EU quarter -
was thus given the highest importance.
A week
later, a commission spokesman, trying to disentangle himself from the
web of the many questions raised by the move, told journalists that
the appointment was not an issue "of interest beyond the
press room".
If
so, why did Juncker - who rarely comes to the press room - make it
himself such a big topic?
The
reason maybe lies in the identity of the chosen one: Martin Selmayr -
aka Rasputin, Machiavelli or the Monster - Juncker's all-powerful
head of cabinet.
Juncker,
a weakened president of the European Commission, owes a lot to
Selmayr, who ran his campaign for the office, and runs his daily
activities with an iron fist that many in the Berlaymont building say
is not even covered by a velvet glove.
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